A Tyler Formal Gardens and Landscaping Lecture will take place on BCCC’s (Bucks County Community College) Newtown Campus and includes a tour of the Tyler Formal Gardens.
The lecture will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 18 in the Zlock Performing Arts Center, followed by a tour on campus of the formal gardens.
The Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation‘s Edward Thome and Abdallah Tabet will present “From the Garden Up: Lynnewood, Landscape, and Legacy,” a look at Lynnewood Hall’s historic gardens and how their research into the past has led to new ideas for its future.
Lynnewood Hall is a 110-room Neoclassical Revival mansion in Elkins Park, designed by architect Horace Trumbauer in the late 1890s for industrialist Peter A.B. Widener. The foundation bought the property in 2023 after decades of neglect and announced plans to restore it. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2025.
Lynnewood Hall, a long-neglected mansion in Elkins Park, now under restoration, is the subject of the lecture. Credit: Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation
“Changes in the landscape can teach us about the past, just as much as an old newspaper or an antique clock,” noted Matt Metcalf, Historic Preservation Area Coordinator at BCCC. “Formal gardens are works of art: designers ‘paint’ with organic materials. Bringing these landscapes back to life helps us appreciate the past in a tangible way.”
Edward Thome founded the Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation and serves as its executive director. Lynnewood Hall captured his heart at 11 years old, and since 2018 he has worked tirelessly to save it. Thome, who seeks to make history tangible to the public, believes that Lynnewood Hall has the potential to become one of Philadelphia’s great cultural centers. It provides a community with educational and recreational opportunities.
Edward Thome, Lynnewood Hall Preservationist
Abdallah Tabet has over 20 years’ experience as an architect and landscape architect around the world. His work in France includes the Chantilly and Vaux-le-Vicomte grounds, private estates, river restorations, and a temple’s public garden at Versailles. In the U.S. Tabet played a key role in the design of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art expansion. He also developed a master plan for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. He was recently selected as one of 100 young professionals to collaborate with Oprah Winfrey as part of her SuperSoul100 program.
Abdallah Tabet, world-renowned architect and landscape architect
Before the lecture, raffle tickets will be on sale for a chance to win garden accents for your home. An exhibition by Bucks County artists, “Garden Glories 2,” sponsored by the Hicks Art Center Gallery, will be displayed in the Zlock lobby.
The college is located at 275 Swamp Rd. in Newtown. Click here for a campus map and directions.
Click here for more information on Tyler Formal Gardens.
Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for veterans and BCCC alumni, and free for current Bucks students with ID. Click here to purchase tickets or at the door. For more information, email matthew.metcalf@bucks.edu.
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